CNN political analyst Van Jones asserted on Sunday that Republicans were facing a turning point over whether they go through with electing accused sexual predator Roy Moore as U.S. senator for Alabama.
"Let's be frank," CNN host Jake Tapper said during a discussion on the Sunday State of the Union program. "Roy Moore could absolutely still win."
"He could," Jones agreed. "We haven't mentioned [Breitbart chief and former Trump adviser] Steve Bannon in this. This is Bannonism on trial."
"Bannon is trying to create this sense of an aggrieved identity, frankly, of a white aggrieved identity group that's under siege by everybody," he continued. "And this is that in its worse form. So, you're not supposed to vote as a father, you're not supposed to vote as a woman. You're supposed to vote as a member of this identity group against the world. And if that works, that is very, very bad for the Republican Party and it's very, very bad for our country."
According to Jones, there is "no reason not to believe these women" who are accusing Moore of sexual misconduct.
"And so at some point, some things have to matter other than this ultra-tribal -- I think it's a very good term -- Trump identity politics growing in America at the expense of every other value," he said.
Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum shot back that the "tribalism is on the Democratic side too."
"The bottom line is, it is tribalism on both sides," Santorum opined, adding that Moore should "step back" from running for the good of the Republican Party.
